The Ants Go Marching
by Mrs.Stockholm
Summary: The Weasley children's thoughts on war and why they will fight.


Dis-I bought the Harry Potter characters at the same time I bought James Bond and Q. Which was list night, in my dreams.

A/N-I meant to write something about Bill or Charlie watching Molly adopt Harry as the final son but I somehow ended up trying to get inside the head of all the Weasleys instead. Each child is a little different, each one thinks about war differently. So these are some of the reasons that I think the Weasley children will fight against Voldemort.

Time is not established, can be seen as happening all at once or different for each.

* * *

It was hard enough growing up with six younger siblings. Bill had memories of life during the War and most of them were of him taking care of his brothers and Ginny. He remembered a night, maybe a stormy night, and hearing noises outside the house that sent his parents into a near panic. His father pushed Ginny into his arms and he and Charlie had to take all the little ones into the hidden cellar and keep them quiet. Fred and George sat under the stairs crying silently and Percy calmly distracted Ron with a parchment and colored ink. His heart had been racing, worried for his mum and dad, and it had been nothing at all. A tree falling over or stray animals seeking shelter.

The War ended but Bill never stopped feeling responsible for them. And he knew, he knew the second he saw the scrawny, messy haired boy sitting beside Ron at the table, that he was going to be in charge of more of them.

Sure his brothers had had friends over the years but never ones like Harry or Hermione. Charlie's friends were from the War era, same as him. They could take care of themselves if it came down to it. Percy's friends were the kind to go into hiding with their families or logic their way out. They wouldn't need help, maybe wouldn't take help, from the Weasleys.

Fred and George, well, he honestly couldn't remember their friends much. He was half grown by the time they began to choose what sort of people they liked and their letters to him were as much reports of their behavior as they were anything else. Somehow he'd become the third parent in their eyes, strict like Mum but not as easy to sway as Dad.

Then there was Ron and Ginny, and Bill knew exactly how it was going to be with them. They were so young. If the War came around again, and anyone with half a brain thought it would, they'd need him. They'd be the ones who didn't know what to do or where to go, who to trust and how to act. They wouldn't know to keep their heads down in the market or to check the locks after you got home, before sundown, and twice before bed. And Ron's friends, even if one was famous, were as good as Muggles. They would need him to be near, to protect them like he always had.

It was such a burden, so much responsibility, that he ached at the thought of it. Even Fred and George, whether they liked it or not, would look to him for the answers. It had been hard enough the first time around but he could only imagine this time it would be worse. More mouths to feed, more heads to count, more children to shush.

It had been hard enough with six.

* * *

Charlie tried to be an optimist. Even when things were at their worst he found a grim joke to chuckle at. Laughter or a smile gave people confidence and Charlie always assumed that people could use confidence in hard times. Not many people knew it, but quite often when he laughed, Charlie was also extremely scared inside.

He wasn't afraid of everything and he wasn't necessarily ashamed of being afraid, but fear was contagious and he hated that. He remembered his mum taking him along Diagon Alley and a bang went off somewhere in the street. He wouldn't have cared, loud noises were part of life in Wizarding markets, but his mother was nervous. Her back got very straight and her voice was horribly sharp when she told him and Bill to get into the next shop. Percy burst into tears right in her arms. She was afraid and just for that so were they.

He and Bill talked about the next War sometimes, more and more as they grew older. They were both certain it would come soon. Maybe after he gained his tenure at the preserve. Maybe a few years after Ginny graduated. But not long, and the thought made his stomach turn to iron. He could see the cracks in the world, the legislation up for debate and the way the papers talked about Muggles. His baby brothers were offended by it but they were young, barely in touch with the adult world and not old enough to realize what the signs meant. So he laughed and it made them forget. Just like that the issue was gone from their heads.

Charlie was brave and he laughed at danger. But on the inside he worried that one day they would learn that laughter doesn't really chase the shadows away.

* * *

Percy only slightly recalled the first Wizarding War. There was fear and a sometimes being woken up at night and being forced to sit in a dark room. He thought now that these were memories of the cellar but he wasn't really sure. He might have taken care of the twins, actually.

But no, he was too young to fully recall the War as it had been. He did know, though, that his brothers had been there to protect him. Even when he had drawn in Bill's book or when he broke Charlie's little toy dragon and they had wanted to kill him they would never let anyone else hurt him.

It was a good sort of thing to be sure of. His family. No matter what happened, what he chose to do or forgot to do or accidentally did they would keep him safe. And if he weren't there he didn't have to worry because the twins and Ron and his sister would be safe as well. They had their big brothers to look after them and there was no one in the world who would take care of them as well as his brothers could.

No, it didn't matter what war was like. Even if it were as horrible as it seemed, as terrifying as his nightmares, it would be alright. Because if War wanted one of the Weasleys, it would have to go through Bill and Charlie to get to them.

* * *

Fred didn't have much of an opinion on war. George said it was bad on principle and so he agreed of course. But really, neither of them could say it was a big concern.

As far as their family was concerned, it would happen. So then what was the point in worrying? They would fight 'The Dark Lord' because he was an arse and bigot and he stood for everything they hated. So maybe they did have an opinion on the war. He was going to lose.

They knew that because they had a secret weapon. Actually, they had a really obvious weapon. They had Harry. Harry who was shy but brave and hard working and honestly _good. _There had never been a danger that Harry couldn't face. There was never something cruel that he didn't stand up to. Greasy faced Snape and his unfair points, Harry mouthed off and earned himself detentions. Smarmy little Malfoy, Harry cursed his book bag to spill his ink on the parchment. Three headed dogs and evil professors, trolls, basilisks. Harry took them on without a thought because it needed to be done. You Know Who was bad business, yes, but someone needed to do away with him, and Gred and Forge had faith that they knew someone who could.

* * *

War scared the bloody hell out of Ron. The way his parents talked, the way Bill and Charlie talked, there were bad times ahead. He had _inherited_ his fear of He Who Must Not Be Named. His fear was less than theirs, his sympathy for the survivors was muted. The real thing was worse.

He'd followed Harry on enough adventures that he had an idea of how dangerous it was going to be. There was going to be running and blood and at some point he'd be so scared he would want to puke. Of course, he'd forget about all of that the next time Harry needed him. And Harry _would _need him because there was no one else who could be in the center of it but the kid with the taped up glasses and lightning scar.

He was going to march onto a battlefield beside his two best friends and he was going to have to look at the ugly, smug face of old Malfoy and half a dozen rotten Slytherins and…and probably _Voldemort._ He was going to get hurt. He would end up with pains far worse than anything his mum or Madam Pomphrey had ever healed him from.

But he had to, really. Because they would go without him. They were that brave. They were that stubborn. Harry and Hermione would go out there even if it were just the two of them against the world and Ron was not the kind of friend who could let them go without him. He made his mistakes, yeah, but not that kind of mistake. War would come and that scared Ron in ways he couldn't say. But he would be there with his wand at the ready because war scared him, but he was more afraid of losing them.

* * *

The idea of war had almost lost its meaning to Ginny. It was thrown around so often. 'After the War. During the War. Before the War.' It was almost as if 'war' was a measure of time instead of a horrible event. It meant so much to her parents but for her it was a bedtime story. The tale of Harry Potter vanquishing the greatest evil to touch Earth. It was only as real as Babbity Rabbity.

She knew fear. She even knew prejudice. But war she did not know and so she did not fear it. She would go to war like a Gryffindor and she would protect the people she cared about. Hermione with her teeth Healer parents. Harry who she swore she was in love with, really really. Anna the Ravenclaw who, even thought she was a Muggleborn, knew more about Charms and helped her write her first essay.

Her parents were going to fight. Her brothers would fight. Her brothers were brilliant at everything and she could just imagine they'd be brilliant at dueling too. They'd be heroes and she was going to be a heroine.

War was horrible, she knew that, but Ginny didn't care. There were more important things than being safe. All the best adventures were dangerous.


End file.
